Hope in Giving Hope

Faith Church September 13, 2009 Romans 8:18-25

Introduction:

- We’re into our 4^th week of our series: Finding Hope in the Wonderful Counselor

- since we all are in need of hope at various times in our lives (every day), the issue is: Where are you going to go to get it?

- what better place than from the Wonderful Counselor –Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God the Son He is greater than we could begin to comprehend.

- [REVIEW] Our definition of hope is::

Hope = the anxious anticipation of good – (biblical perspective) vs. the world’s definition more as ‘an uncertainty of the outcome’

- that definition comes from Romans 8:18-25 [esp. v. 24-25]

Romans 8:24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

> we have HOPE because of Who God is, what He can do, and what He promised to do

* Today our focus is on Finding Hope in Giving Hope – i.e. the Wonderful Counselor gave hope to the people to whom He ministered!

[Open your Bible to Matthew 12 - -we’ll read some verses in a just a moment]

- before we do, let me point out that in order to give hope to someone, you have to understand a few key principles that Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor demonstrated for us:

I. The Process of Giving Hope

- we’re asking the following questions:

Q: Where does this process begin? Where you start?

Q: What things need to take place that would allow you to be in the best position to give hope . . . or to get hope?

- let’s begin with …

A. Reviewing the foundational principles

- this is basically a review of the last 3 weeks of our study

- in order to give hope to someone . . .:

1. You have to ask the right questions – as Jesus did and for the various reasons He asked them

Point: You have to get the facts!

- remember what Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 18:13 He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.

- so that’s where you start, but the 2^nd step is equally important:

2. You have to define the problem

- remember, the 1^st step in solving a problem is to realize you have one!

> so it’s important to properly define the problem

- if it’s a physical problem (the affects of the curse of sin on our body) then you deal with it medically

- if it’s a spiritual problem, then you use biblical terms to define the problems and you apply biblical truth to the situation

> this allows for progressive sanctification (doctrine of spiritual growth)

* progressive sanctification = the process of a person growing and changing to THINK more like Christ and then ACT more like Christ for the glory of God!

- Those two foundational truths demonstrated by the Wonderful Counselor are occur best when a person understands . . .

3. You have to build relationships with people!

- Building relationships was/is a priority with Jesus [REVIEW of last week’s study]

He took the initiative in reaching out to people
He showed no partiality to people
He looked beyond the offense to the need!
He modeled unselfishness at all times
He modeled the heart of a servant

Point: This is where it all STARTS – we have to understand the basics

- let’s read our passage that refers to Jesus being the source of HOPE:

[READ Matthew 12:15-21 – explain context 1^st]

Context: v. 1-11 – Jesus was facing the criticism of the Pharisees (as usual)

1) Questioning about the disciples ‘working’ on the Sabbath to gather some food to eat

- Jesus answered their questions with the truth

2) Questioning Jesus about healing on the Sabbath a man whose hand was withered

- He again responded with the truth – but they didn’t like it

– to the point of v. 14 (not liking Jesus’ response) they plotted to kill Him!

Key Verse: Matthew 12:21 "AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE."

- as the text indicated, Isaiah wrote this a/b the coming Messiah over 700 yrs prior to His coming

- Isaiah recognized this about the Gentiles (and Israel – but Israel would reject that HOPE)

- the 2^nd step in the process is this:

B. Realizing the NEED for hope!

- that’s why Jesus came in the 1^st place – man needed a Savior – without Him, there is NO HOPE for salvation and/or spiritual growth

- as you look at the Old Testament, the N.T., and our culture (and other countries), you have to come to this conclusion: Everybody needs hope!

Q: Do you agree with this statement?

Q: Why or why not?

- Paul wrote these words in:

Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision " by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands--¹²remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

- the people at Ephesus were/are not the only ones who need hope

TEACHERS: This might be a good time to break up into small groups to interact on this question (using the chart below), then come back and have some OPEN discussion

Input: What are some situations where people need hope? What specific ‘hope’ do they need?

[various answers – consider the following situations and what hope is needed]

Situation?	Hope?
Unsaved	Salvation
New Believer	Growth/Change
Marriage Problems	Communication Solve problems Role of the Husband/Wife
Families	Parenting Principles
Trials	God’s grace/sovereignty/mercy/wisdom, etc.
Depressed	Principles of God’s Word (not feelings to control you)
Physical Problem	God can heal Glories of heaven
EVERY ONE	It’s AVAILABLE!

Point: Situations may vary, severity of the difficulty may vary, but what Jesus said in John 15:5 is still true today:

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

C. Source of Hope: God’s Word!

- Jesus repeatedly used the phrase: “it is written”

- He was referring to the OT

- Paul told us in Romans 15:4, why the OT was written:

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

- No wonder Jesus quoted the OT so much

> He was the LIVING Word, but He referred to the WRITTEN Word of God

- This is where we focus on the *Sufficiency of the Scripture = God’s Word is all we need to know about life and godliness

- It’s not everything God knows, but it’s all we NEED to know to please Him & bring glory to God

- Here’s a couple of verses that may help you better understand this subject

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching [what is RIGHT], for reproof [what is WRONG], for correction [how to MAKE IT RIGHT], for training in righteousness [how to KEEEP IT RIGHT];¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

- Peter clearly stated the principle of the sufficiency of God’s Word:

2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

- You could put it like this:

* The Bible is a book of ANSWERS, not a book of PROMBLEMS!

- are there things about it we can’t fully understand, YES

- but it’s the part that is so clear (without question) that we need to keep our focus

- we all need the hope that Wonderful Counselor gives and is available to EVERYONE!

- the question is this: How did Jesus do this?

II. The Practice of Giving Hope!

Q: What methods did Jesus practice that gave people hope?

A. He modeled hope by His life and His words!

- Jesus was confident and modeled the anxious anticipation of good

Matthew 16:27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
Matthew 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

- Jesus set the example for all of us to follow – which is why He said, “Follow me”

- He would take us down the path of bringing glory to God Who created us and gave us a purpose for our existence!

Point: Jesus had full confidence/trust/hope in the Father’s plan of redemption and His ability to establish and confirm His kingdom!

Lesson: * You can only give hope if you have hope! – and Jesus had it; He IS HOPE!!

- that’s why Jesus could give hope in the following situations

- we’ll go through these rather quickly – each one could be a separate case study!

B. Examples of the Wonderful Counselor giving Hope

1. Woman at the well – John 4

- here’s a lady that is physically thirsty – she’s at the well

- Jesus (a Jew) comes to get a drink and offers her ETERNAL LIFE!

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

* Hope of eternal life!

- because He was no respecter of persons, He saw her spiritual need and gave her hope

[Note: Maybe we should pause and thank God for the eternal life He gave us!]

2. Royal Officer whose son was sick – John 4

[READ 4:46-54] – Key Verse:

John 4:50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.

- imagine if that were your son . . .

- this was a demonstration of Jesus proving His deity (His power to heal)

*Hope of physical healing!

> although the gift of healing (which was originally a sign gift) no longer exists . . .

> God can still heal whoever He wants to heal: Sometimes we simply need to ask!

3. Adulterous Woman – John 8

- we mentioned this last week in our study on relationships (so we won’t go into great deal)

- but just think about those circumstances:

> she was about ready to be stoned by people who gave her NO HOPE

> all they wanted was JUSTICE – but even with that it was misguided

> they eventually walked away when they realized they were NOT without sin in their own lives and deserved the same thing

- notice what Jesus said to her:

John 8:10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."

- the hope here is: * Hope of no condemnation (i.e. forgiveness)!

- in order to interpret this properly – Jesus wasn’t just letting her get away with this – He obviously knew her heart and what she was thinking/believing

- Paul put it this way:

Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[Note: Maybe we should pause and thank God that we are no longer condemned!]

4. Thief on the cross – Luke 23:39-43 [READ]

Luke 23:39One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!"⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?⁴¹ "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."⁴² And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!"⁴³ And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

- Jesus gave this man hope because this man was repentant – in short, he confessed his sin to God and put His hope in the Wonderful Counselor

* Hope for the future!

[Note: Maybe we should pause and thank God for heaven and what we have to look forward to!]

- we’ll look at one more example:

5. Peter – who denied Christ 3 times! – Luke 22

[remember the context: (upper room; Peter boasting and saying that he would NEVER deny Christ – even though Jesus just said they all would forsake Him and run)

- Jesus gave Peter hope:

*Hope in restoration!

- here’s what Jesus said to him:

Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

Q: Has anyone here denied Christ this week?

Q: Has anyone sinned in any way that would misrepresent the glory of God?

- Guess what?

> there is hope for you – HOPE OF RESTORATION!!

Input: What other examples come to your mind in which Jesus gave people hope?

[various answers: Mary at the tomb, Nicodemus, Zaachaeus]

[Note: Maybe we should pause & thank God for the hope of restoration we have when we’ve sinned!

- let’s conclude with this:

III. The Potential of Giving Hope: A Changed Life!

- in other would, what can really happen when we grasp the hope from the Wonderful Counselor

- go back and look at the examples we presented

A. Woman at the well – she believed AND others believed!

- that’s why we’re always challenging you to live the truth, but also SPREAD the TRUTH!

- you can make an eternal impact on the lives of other IF you RESPOND PROPERLY to Jesus

John 4:41 Many more believed because of His word;⁴² and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."

B. Royal officer – Son was healed, he believed, and his family believed!

John 4:53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household.

- talk about the influence of parenting – starts with the HEAD of the HOUSE guys!!

- what if your wife/children’s faith/hope was JUST LIKE YOURS?

C. Adulterous Woman – moral purity

- Jesus told her to “go and sin no more” (there is an element here of forgiveness as well, but there is also a result of that forgiveness)

- it’s not like she was perfect the rest of her life, but the text would indicate she STOPPED the adultery because of what Jesus SAID and DID for her!

D. Thief on the cross – eternity with God!

Cf. recommend the book: The Glories of Heaven – John MacArthur

E. Peter – effective service for the Lord

- Peter later preached at Pentecost and 3,000 people came to know Christ (Acts 2)

- he wrote 2 books in the NT: 1 Peter & 2 Peter!

Conclusion:

Q: Are you willing to GIVE HOPE to others the way Jesus gave hope?

Q: Are you thankful for the hope He has given you (body of Christ)?

Q: What needs to change in order for you to be more like the Wonderful Counselor?

Finding Hope in the Wonderful Counselor

Finding Hope in Giving Hope

Introduction:

Hope = the anxious anticipation of good (Romans 8:24-25)

I. The ______________ of Giving Hope

A. Reviewing the ______________ principles

1. You have to _____ the right __________

2. You have to ____________ the problem

* progressive sanctification = the ___________ of a person ______________ and ________________ to THINK more like Christ and then ACT more like Christ for the glory of God!

3. You have to build _________________ with people!